Baroda top West zone league

Baroda topped the West zone league table after notching their third win in four games. This time, they beat Maharashtra by 57 runs in Ahmedabad and took home a bonus point as well, to finish with 15 after four matches, two more than Mumbai and Gujarat. Baroda's top-order batsmen laid the foundations for the victory with solid efforts - the first four all made more than 40, with Connor Williams (61) leading the way. The lower order stumbled thereafter, but Baroda still managed 259. The bowlers then took over, reducing Maharashtra to 85 for 5. Hrishikesh Kanitkar played a lone hand making 91 off 114 balls, but none of the others offered any support - the second-highest scorer was No. 11 batsman A Tibrewala, was made an unbeaten 25.

Gujarat finished their Ranji one-day campaign in style, thrashing Saurashtra by 65 runs at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, but it wasn't enough to win them a place in the next round. Saurashtra won the toss and chose to field, but were almost immediately regretting that decision as Vivek Parikh, one of Gujarat's openers, hammered 81 off a mere 43 balls with 12 fours and three sixes. Nalin Patel (75) and Parthiv Patel (68) contributed handsomely as well, enabling Gujarat to power to 308 for 8. Saurashtra were never in the hunt, despite useful contributions from Nikhil Rathod (77 not out) and Shitanshu Kotak (60). Gujarat tied with Mumbai on 13 points, but Mumbai made it to the next round on the basis of having beaten Gujarat in their league match.

Shitanshu Kotak's seven-wicket haul was in vain, for Saurashtra could not chase the target of 259 that Baroda had set, and were crushed by 84 runs. Baroda had got off to a good start, putting on 54 before Connor Williams fell. Then Satyajit Parab and Rajesh Powar went about dismantling the bowling. They raced to 168 before the 30th over, and the spectre of a large total loomed. Then Kotak broke through, dismissing Parab for 69, before running through the rest of the side. Powar, however, went on for a little longer than Parab and stroked 89 off 86 with seven 4s and two 6s. Saurashtra's reply started badly, as both openers fell for two runs between them, and from there on the team was playing catch-up. A brief period of resistance followed, when Kotak (26) and Jaydev Shah (40) put on 63. But the fightback ended when both were dismissed before the 17th over. A string of insignificant scores followed, and Saurashtra were dismissed for 174 in the 42nd over.

Nilesh Kulkarni claimed five wickets to spin Mumbai to a comprehensive 51-run win over Maharashtra, who could only reach 197. Mumbai put up 248 for 7 due to strong contributions by the top order and a late burst of hitting by Vinayak Samant and Wilkin Mota, who, between them, scored 73 in 54 balls. Wasim Jaffer top-scored with 52. Mumbai's bowlers then dismantled the Maharashtra top order, reducing them to 58 for 3. Dheeraj Jadhav defiantly scored 51, but he was dismissed at 93 with his team not yet out of the woods. The flame was then carried by Abhijit Kale, who remained unbeaten on 66 as partners fell around him to Kulkarni's spin.

Niraj Patel led Gujarat to a facile win over Baroda in the league phase of the Ranji one-day tournament at Ahmedabad. Niraj continued the rich vein of form that he had shown in the four-day format and shared a crucial 124-run association with Akash Christian (69) to boost the Gujarat total. Baroda got off to a good start in pursuit of 248 but Kalpesh Patel, the left-arm spinner, picked up wickets at regular intervals and kept the pressure on. Baroda eventually fell 24 runs short.

Vinayak Mane and Amol Muzumdar lifted Mumbai to a competetive 260 before their bowlers maintained the pressure to seal a 20-run victory in the league phase of the Ranji one-day tournament in Ahmedabad. Muzumdar joined Mane with the score on 30 for 2 but their 155-run stand steadied the innings and they soon stepped up a gear to launch into the offensive. Saurashtra faltered at the start but useful partnerships from the middle-order gave them a good chance. Rakesh Dhriv and Sitanshu Kotak produced fifties but Saurashtra couldn't maintain the momentum and fell 20 runs short.

Ajit Agarkar ripped apart the Gujarat batting order with an inspired spell of 6 for 18 as Mumbai triumphed by 69 runs in their second game of the Ranji one-day tournament at Ahmedabad. Chasing 247, Gujarat lost both their openers in the first two overs and barring Niraj Patel, who stroked a fighting 76, none could come to grips with Agarkar's bowling. Earlier Mumbai rode on half-centuries from Vinayak Mane (62) and Amol Muzumdar (70) to reach a competetive 246.

Dhruv Mohan's excellent 77 led Maharashtra to a comfortable five-wicket victory over Saurashtra in Ahmedabad. Mohan steadied the innings after a shaky start and his 83-run partnership with Abhijit Kale put Maharashtra on course to victory. Saurashtra hadn't got any momentum going when they batted and it was left to the lower order to lift them to 182. In the end, though, it wasn't enough.

Baroda pulled off an upset seven-wicket victory over defending champions Mumbai in the Ranji one-day tournament at Ahmedabad. The two Pathans - Irfan Sr and Yusuf - shared three wickets apiece to restrict a powerful Mumbai batting line-up to only 179. Mumbai were tottering at 86 for 7 before Vinayak Samant, their wicketkeeper, stitched together important partnerships with the tailenders. Samant cracked five fours in his 49. That, though, wasn't enough as Satyajit Parab and Jacob Martin, who came together at 36 for 2, led the way with a 110-run stand. Parab stroked eight fours in his 113-ball knock and by the time he fell, caught behind off Ramesh Powar, the job was almost done.

Gujarat romped home to a crushing eight-wicket win, gaining a bonus point as well, in their opening game of the Ranji one-day tournament at Ahmedabad. The Maharashtra batsmen didn't get any momentum going, after being inserted, with only Dheeraj Jadhav, with a dogged 55, and Ranjit Khirid, with a quickfire 41 at the end, lending the innings some respectability. Gujarat had no worries while chasing 185 as the two Patels - Parthiv and Niraj - steering them towards the target. Kirat Damani also chipped in with 43 and Gujarat romped home with plenty to spare.